欧宝娱乐

This book is a catalog of 100 literary geniuses. I went into it thinking it would be a sustained investigation of the notion of genius, spread across the 100 examples, but it's really more of 100 short papers (some as short as 3 pages) dedicated to the genius of each particular writer....and when Bloom has a hard time verbalizing the particular traits of genius in a given writer, he fills his pages with extended quotations from their work, as if to say, "Look at this! What else do I need to say?!"

Basically, it comes down to this: Shakespeare was the pre-eminent genius, the Godhead that contains all genius, and the other 99 writers are all mere aspects of that genius (though geniuses in their own right).

That's not to say this isn't a decent book to have around the house. It's basically an introduction to 100 of the best writers of all time, and like any catalog, it contains worthwhile discoveries, and like any catalog, you can pretty much open to any page (well...section), and start reading. You don't have to read it from beginning to end.

But if you're hoping to "understand" the notion of genius by the time you complete the book, then this probably isn't the work for you.